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2 Investigators: State Shuts Down Illegal Auto Dealership

(CBS) — Bernice Webb wipes away tears of frustration, months after buying a used SUV from a Lockport auto dealership.

“They don’t care, because if they did, they would have never did this,” she tells 2 Investigator Dave Savini. “They ripped me off and took advantage of me.”

She bought the vehicle at Tessone Motor Sales, which is run by Joe Tessone. She says she fought for months to get the registration and license plate, but Webb says all they gave her was a bogus temporary plate.

Because she’s worried she would be pulled over by police, she did not drive the vehicle. Webb is a school bus driver and doesn’t want to lose her commercial driver’s license.

She turned to the 2 Investigators for help.

Savini tracked down Tessone and questioned him about Webb’s allegations. The 2 Investigators also contacted the Illinois Secretary of State Police, and Tessone was arrested.

Tessone was cited for failing to transfer titles and for record-keeping violations.

Sources say he is in trouble with the Illinois Department of Revenue, too, with a $29,240 tax lien; an expired sales tax certificate and a revoked business registration. His business was supposed to stop selling cars in November 2016. Webb bought her vehicle in February 2017.

“How could he do this to people?” Webb asks.

Tessone is accused of doing the same thing to other car buyers this year, too. Better Business Bureau records show three complaints from people who say they bought cars but did not get license plates or registrations.

After months of Webb getting a runaround, the Illinois Secretary of State Police brought her a valid temporary tag.